Treasure
by Rebellwithoutacause
Summary: A short ficlet from the moment Bryan finds Kim until the moment he has her in his arms. Please be kind, I'm a little rusty, its been a while since I've posted anything. R&R!


_**Disclaimer: I don't own Taken, or anything affiliated with it. It'd be nice, but sadly, I do not. **_

_**Author's Note: So, I saw the movie in theaters, loved it, and bought the DVD. I was watching it this evening, and for some reason, was compelled to write this little ficlet. I hope you guys enjoy, lemme know what you think with reviews! Thanks much!  
**_

I couldn't stop the pounding in my chest. I was so close. I could sense that the rats who had my daughter were running out of places to hide her. Marco had told me they sold virgins to St. Claire, and I'd tracked him down too. I quietly stepped into a dark room, carrying a tray of ice and champagne.

In the middle of the room, encased by perfectly clear class was an open space. A young woman was standing in it, illuminated by a pale, soft light. She was dressed in very scanty clothes and pitch black heels. Men in leather arm chairs sat in a wide circle around the glass case. A woman's voice came over a speaker.

"One hundred thousand. One hundred…" a red light clicked on across the room, and the voice said "One fifty…"

"Your champagne," I said quietly, remembering how I'd gotten in here. The man I was speaking to was partially shaded, but, he looked younger than the others in the room.

His only response was to tilt his head at me. Someone pressed a clicker on the table beside their chair and the woman on the intercom spoke again.

"Two hundred."

"May I serve?" I asked very softly.

"Please." he answered.

I popped the bottle of champagne and poured a small amount into the glass as the man pressed his own clicker.

"Two fifty….two fifty…sold for two hundred and fifty thousand."

A shadowed man stepped into the case, threw a black cloth around the poor girl and drug her away. The woman's voice came over the intercom again as the light dimmed and then brightened again.

"The last item. As usual, we saved the best for last. Speaks English, some French, certified pure."

My heart raced up into my throat. Kimmy spoke English, and a little bit of French. And she was a virgin.

A cloaked woman was led into the case. The man leading her very slowly, very carefully unveiled the girl, and I could not tear my eyes away.

"Gah!" the man sitting nearest to me spat.

I realized that I'd over filled the glass. I jerked back quickly. "Sorry," I muttered quickly.

"Get out." he growled.

But I did not move. I set the bottle down and my eyes became glued to the unveiling figure.

"The bidding will begin at one hundred thousand."

The last of the cloak was pulled off the girl, and my heart stopped. The woman was Kimmy's height and proportions, but her head was lolled, turned, perhaps afraid to take in everything around her. She had long, chocolate brown hair, the same length and cut as Kimmy's. And then at last, her face turned.

I stared into my terrified daughter's face. The face I thought I'd never see again. The face I cherished and dreamed of every single night.

Kim staggered slightly, and I could see she was malnourished. She was wearing ever so thin, spiky heels that I knew she could barely stand in. She was barely wearing any clothing at all, bejeweled strings covering her chest and pelvis, just enough. It was horribly wrong to see her so. I could feel my heart breaking inside my chest as I took in the sight of what these monsters had done to my baby.

"One hundred…one hundred, one fifty…" the intercom spoke.

"Buy her!" I snarled, whipping out my gun and shoving it into the neck of the man I'd been serving. He tried to protest but I shook the gun threateningly, "Buy her!"

"Two hundred."

"Two fifty."

At last he pressed the clicker. "Three hundred. Three hundred…"

Kimmy tried to take a shaky step, and I realized she must not have been able to see outside the glass. Like a two way mirror she was blocked in, because she looked straight at me, but no recognition passed in her eyes. Frantic adrenaline shot into my blood.

"Three fifty. Three fifty…three hundred and fifty thousand…"

"Buy her!" I nearly yelled into his ear. His hand did not move. I shook the gun again, but he held his price.

"Four hundred."

There seemed to be a three way bidding war between the men across from us, right and left. I think the other two in the room had stopped bidding, finding it to be too rich for them. But the other two seemed determined to battle it out. Not if I had anything to say about it. And I most certainly did.

"Four fifty…" The woman's voice was slightly more tentative now. "Four fifty…four fifty…" I knew I didn't have any more time. I slammed the clicker on the desk.

"Five hundred. Five hundred…five hundred…sold for five hundred thousand."

I breathed for the first time in what felt like a year. The room went dark and the man who took the previous girl away and veiled Kimmy again. I was grateful that I no longer had to see her dressed like a porn star, but a vengeful hate rose up in me that anyone would touch her. And my loss of visual contact with her made fear rise hot and thick in my throat.

"That concludes the sales for tonight. Thank you all for coming. You may collect your purchases directly."

"You will never get away with this!" the man snarled as I grabbed him by the nape of the neck and hauled him out of the chair.

"If you want to live, you'll make sure I do!" I said savagely. I pushed him out the door, hand still wrapped around the nape of his neck when I felt a burning white hot pain in my neck, and I collapsed to the floor, falling into blackness.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

I was exhausted. I'd chased a speeding boat, killed six or seven more men, including one who was just as well trained as myself. The only reason I managed to win was because I was fighting for one I loved, and one who I had no fear to die for. It made me risk every dangerous maneuver I had ever been taught, and had come up with on my own.

The man lay dead on the floor at my feet. I snatched up his gun, made sure a bullet was in the chamber, and faced the last door. I was limping, and bleeding from my stomach, but, I didn't feel it. I shoved the door open deftly.

I saw Kim, clutched by an old man, a man who held a long knife at her throat. Kim whimpered but didn't try to struggle away, fearing the blade. I raised the gun.

I stared at the man who'd thought he could have my daughter as his valuable virgin prize. I raised the gun I held in both hands, more steady than I'd ever been in my life. His beady eyes darted from my face, to the gun, to Kim, then back to me.

"We can neg-…" BANG!

I put a bullet directly between his eyes. He dropped back to the wide bed behind him and moved no more. Kim staggered briefly, and then looked straight at me as I lowered the gun.

"Daddy?" she said, almost like a question. Like she couldn't believe I was standing there. Like she was dreaming and didn't believe what she had just seen.

"Daddy." she repeated, and this time I heard the reality in her voice. She knew it was the truth.

"You came for me!" she whimpered, and then she staggered towards me. She pushed her head into my chest, fisted her hands into my shirt and let loose a shuddering sob. "You came for me," she said again through her choking tears.

My stupor seemed to shatter. "I told you I would," I whispered, pushing my cheek against the top of her head, wrapping my arms around her. I held her tightly to me, but not so tight that she couldn't breathe. She gasped and sobbed, and I could feel the hot tears spilling from her eyes onto my chest. It was like an electric shock to my heart. It was beating again, normally, for the first time in almost ninety six hours. I had my baby. I had my Kimmy. She was alive. I had done the impossible. I'd rescued my little girl from a group of monsters, and she was alive. My baby was alive. I could feel it in the relief of her tears. And I cried too, holding her, rocking her slowly back and forth, overwhelmed with the force of my baby's emotion, the force that had always driven me. And always would. I'd do it all again, all for that one moment of feeling my daughter's heartbeat against mine, the comfort I would always treasure no matter what.


End file.
